Improvement in gathering attachments for sewing-machines



A. J0 H N STO N.

Improvement in Gathering Attachment fbf Sewing Machines.

N0.123,995 Patented Feb. 27, 3872.

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Wi'i'nesses: wanker:

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIGE.

ALLEN JOHNSTON, OF WAIELLO COUNTY, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATHERING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,995, dated February27, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN JOHNSTON, of the county of \Vapello, in theState of Iowa, have invented certain Improvements in Plaiting Attachmentfor Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawing, which. together with the letters and figures markedthereon, forms part of this specification, and in which-- Figure 1 is aperspective view of my improved attachment. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the ratchet device and standard enlarged. Fig. 3, upon the same scaleas Fig. 2, is a side view of Fig. 2, looking from the right hand.

Like letters of reference made use of in the several figures indicatelike parts.

Nature of the Invention.

This invention consists in the construction and arrangement of aplaiting attachment for sewing-machines, and is intended as animprovement upon the patent granted to Allen Johnston and William '1.Johnston, January 31, 1871; and it especially consists in the arrangement of a ratchet device upon the vibrating arm of the plaiting orgathering mechanism, so that the gatherer will be caused to skip acertain number of stitches before operating to push forward the cloth.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with particularity, making use in so doingof the aforesaid drawing.

General Description.

A represents the bed-plate; and B, the sliding plate, which is held tothe bed-plate by means of headed rivets or screws (0 a passing throughslot-s b bin the plate B. O is the spring, having a turned-up slot-tedpoint. This spring operates, in connection with the stationary spring Iimmediately above it, in the same manner as in the patent to Allen andWilliam T. Johnston above referred to, being so well known as to requireno description here. D is a bent arm, pivoted to the standard E at ornear the rear end of the bed-plate A. The end of the arm D is slotted,as shown, to pass over the needle-screw, causing it to be carried up anddown with the motion of the needle-bar. Upon the same pivot as the arm Dis carried the loose ratchet-wheel F. A pawl, f, is carried upon the armD, so that each time said arm rises the ratchet is carried forward inmotion therewith. A second pawl, g, is pivoted to the standard E, andacts as a stop to prevent the down motion of the arm D from operating toreturn the ratchet. This latter pawl is held in place by a spring, h,and may be thrown out of gear, as seen at Fig. 2 in dotted lines. Uponthe face of the ratchet-wheel F is cut a series of notches, e e e e,more or less in number, as the case may be; and to the vertical arm ofthe lever I) is pivoted a lever, K, its upper extremity pressed againstthe face of the ratchetwheel by means of a spring, I, and held into thenotches e. Thesenotehes are made with an inclined side, like the teethof a ratchet, so that a continued motion of the wheel throws the end ofthe lever out upon the face. A raised ledge or projection, J, upon thesliding plate B is so arranged as to stand in the path of the lever Kwhen the arm D is moved, and the upper extremity of the lever K is inone of the notches e. l\' ow, the teeth of the ratchet each stand forone stitch of the machine; that is to say, for each stitch of themachine the ratchet-wheel is moved forward one tooth.

, When it has been moved forward four teeth the end of the lever K dropsinto one of the notches e, and in the return motion of the arm D thesaid lever engages the projection J and moves forward the sliding plateB, which operates the spring 0, and causes a plait or gather to beformed on the cloth. The next down motion of the arm carries back thesliding plate by means of the bent arm G, which is engaged by thevertical portion of the arm D, as in the case of the patented device ofJohnston above cited. The same motion. operates to further turn theratchet and disengage the lever K from the notch e. The interval betweenthe plaits may be made any number of stitches desired by arranging theratchet-wheel so that a greater or less number of teeth shall intervenebetween the notches 0. When it is desired to gather or ruffle with thismachine or, in other words, to cause the spring 0 to push forward thecloth at every stitch--it is only necessary to throw the pawl g out ofgear into the position shown in dotted line at Fig. 2. The lever K willnow remain in the notch e, and the sliding plate will be operated atevery stitch. M is a slotted plate, with a guard, m, at the end, andattached to the bed-plate A by means of a fixed bolt and thumb-nut, n.This may be thrown in or out at pleasure, serving to align the edge ofthe fabric to be stitched to the rnffler, and to prevent the same fromdrawing to one side or the other.

Claims.

Having thus described my invention, what Witnesses:

VVILL T. MAJOR, ALBERT G. HARROW.

